UNITED Boss sure pleased for Shaw and McTominay
UNITED manager Jose Mourinho was delighted with and Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay’s performances following their first Premier League starts of the season in the 1-0 win over Bournemouth.
Shaw made his first league start in seven months and 13 days while McTominay lined up in the league for the first time since his full debut against Crystal Palace in May.
Mourinho substituted Shaw in the second-half as Bournemouth attempted to snatch an equaliser but McTominay completed 90 minutes for the third time this term.
“Very good, I think both,” Mourinho said. “Luke started so-so, which is normal but then improving, improving and improving, confidence levels going really high and he had a fantastic hour of football.
“Then is normal, physically he was feeling the cramps were coming, Eddie was not far from me and understood that, so they tried to force a little bit from that side. I had to bring Ashley on to protect the team and Luke.
“The reaction from the crowd pleases me because there’s not a better thing for a player than that.
“Scott played this season 90 minutes in three different competitions, played against Swansea in the cup, tonight and Benfica and for the three times he played 90 minutes, not 87, 89 or 85.
“Why? Because in every match he was playing really, really well.”
Mourinho also lauded Chris Smalling’s performance after he started his 11th consecutive league game.
Mourinho conceded Eric Bailly’s injury is serious and could require surgery but was delighted with Smalling’s display alongside the returning Phil Jones.
“Chris Smalling is playing amazingly well, I think seven or eight matches in a row, so we are fine.”
Mourinho felt United should have clinched victory sooner against The Cherries, who registered five more attempts on target than their hosts.
“I think very good attitude, very good determination to win,” Mourinho noted. “I think every team after a defeat tries not to have a second defeat and that was in the back of their minds when they were playing.
“They wanted to win the match and I could see that from min one to the last second.
“We had our best period in the first period of the second-half. We had the two biggest chances of the game to kill the game. Martial has an easy chance and Marcus’ shot is a fantastic one that deserves a fantastic goal.
“After that they come into the game strong, I believe fresher than us, one more day to rest, is very important, two or three days is a big difference. Then Eddie had two good strikers to bring into the game in the last 15 minutes in Jermain [Defoe] and [Benik] Afobe and when we don’t score that second goal that kills the game they had the hold and they have the courage and quality to give us the difficult 15 minutes that they give us, difficult with one shot. I think Defoe from a very close angle was the only dangerous situation they have but they have the dominance and the result was open until the end.”